Chapter Text
"So do you accept the offer?"
Keiichiro glared at the man before him, the device he'd called the VS Changer lying in his outstretched hands. Keiichiro's mind screamed at him to get out of there, every muscle in his body ready to run off, the breaths he took almost words to yell at him. Here, this man was asking him to be a thief -- a criminal -- as if it were no big deal.
And yet, Keiichiro couldn't bring himself to say "no."
"...This is the key to defeating the Ganglers?" Keiichiro raised an eyebrow, taking a cautious step forward.
"Correct," Kogure said. "To eradicate the Ganglers and destroy their dimension, you must collect all the pieces of the Lupin Collection. In order to do that, you must become a Lupinranger." Though he spoke calmly, it was as if he was urging him on.
"A thief."
"If that is how you wish to word it, then yes."
Keiichiro huffed, eyes scanning the area. If it was some kind of setup, he should've seen something strange by now. His blind spots were behind and below him, but he doubted anyone could've been hiding out on the bridge. Nonetheless, he couldn't risk anything; one could never be too careful, especially with the Ganglers running around. Hell, he might've been speaking to one right now.
"This is ridiculous," Keiichiro muttered. "Get lost. I'm letting you go for now but if I see you pulling this again, I'll have to look into you for premeditation."
Without waiting for a response, Keiichiro brushed past Kogure as quickly as he could.
"So you're willing to leave the Ganglers out and about?" Kogure called out to him.
Keiichiro stopped in his tracks, whipping around to face him.
"What do you know?!" He gripped the handle of his suitcase as a vein in his forehead nearly popped. "You're just some butler, if you're really who you say you are."
"I know that more and more people continue to go missing," Kogure said rather matter-of-factly, much to Keiichiro's annoyance. He stepped forward, steadily closing the distance between them as he spoke. "I know that the death toll only grows higher and higher." He stopped right in front of Keiichiro, locking gazes with him. "I know that about every attempt the police has made to take down the Ganglers has ended in failure."
Dropping his suitcase with a loud thud, Keiichiro grabbed Kogure by the collar. Even so, Kogure maintained his poker-face, his expression not changing once throughout the whole exchange. Keiichiro gritted his teeth.
"Shut up! Don't act as if things are that simple!" His grip on Kogure's collar tightened, his vision growing redder and redder. "We've been doing all that we can to mitigate and prevent the Gangler attacks! Our unit works all day and all night to preserve the peace!"
"And has that been enough?"
An image of two parents crying over their missing daughter flashed through Keiichiro's mind, of a father losing the light in his eyes as he heard about the death of his wife and child, of a boy wailing for his friends who wouldn't be coming back from their field trip. His police badge rested heavily in his chest pocket.
"We'll find a way!" he shouted, though at this point he wasn't sure if it was to answer Kogure or reassure himself. "We'll find a way to take down the Ganglers, no matter how long it takes!"
"I'm offering you a way right here."
"A just way."
"Is this not just?"
"It's a crime!"
"It's a way to protect the people."
Silence lapsed over, Keiichiro finding neither lie nor truth in Kogure's impassive eyes. He hadn't realized he'd been shaking this whole time, his fingers trembling as he shoved Kogure away. Still, Keiichiro did not walk away -- not just yet.
"Is that not your duty?" Kogure prodded him. "Is it not your job to serve the public in any way you can?"
Once again, they were face-to-face, Kogure holding the VS Changer out to him a little bit higher. Keiichiro glanced down at it, swallowing hard.
"...And how do you know this will work?" His voice was unusually quiet.
"Trust yourself," Kogure said. "For only you are capable of keeping the people safe."
Protecting the peace had been Keiichiro's dream for as long as he could remember. Just as his own role model protected him from harm, he wanted to protect others as well. Truly, he would gladly give up his own life if it meant that everyone could continue smiling without worries.
And surely betraying his own morals was the same as giving up his own life.
His hand hovered over the VS Changer, Kogure watching as he made his decision. There was a gleam in his eyes that Keiichiro couldn't quite discern.
"I'm doing this for the people," he said, gripping the VS Changer. It felt odd and clunky -- wrong -- in his hand. "And only for the people."
"Have no doubt that I understand your resolve, Keiichiro."
Despite that, it seemed as if Keiichiro's police badge was stabbing him in the heart.